Family Ties
by InuSaiyan007
Summary: Some what of an AU This takes place way after the Cell Games. Goten has a twin sister with a certain problem... the problem is that she could die at any given moment. people start to worry until they get a surprise visiter which could change everything. R


**AN: Wow! Its been a long time since I've posted anything hasn't it? I would really like to apologize to those of you who were still waiting for me to update on Love is Eternity. I got a huge writers block on that but instead I got inspiration for this one... Sorry. I promise you an update but instead give you a new story. As to whether or not I'm going to continue with Love is Eternity, all I can say to you is that I will try. In the mean time I really hope you enjoy this first chapter and tell me what you think! Like if I should go on with it, some constructive criticism, if I shouldn't or whatever. I'd STRONGLY recommend not flaming me because I tend not to take that very well and there is no telling what I might do. So if you do flame, convert it to "constructive criticism" ok? I promise you this is not your average Goten has a twin sister fanfic... or maybe I'm getting that confused with Gohan has a twin sister... Oh well. Read, Enjoy, and Review!XD**

It was another hot spring day. The cherry trees were in full blume and every now and then dispersing a flury of pink petals making the scenery of Orange Star High seem ever more dream like as decorations for the upcoming St. Whites day festival went up. To Hokuto it looked like she had taken a step back in time, seeing people rushing by in their best kimonos, pretend-to-be samurai tripping over their hakamas while carrying their load to help build the temporary tower that was going up. Hokuto could only stare in awe at the sights and smells that greeted her. She knew her nii-san (older brother) Gohan had said the St. White day festival would be extravagent but she still hadn't expected this much. The thing she liked the most, other than the Fuedal era feel of it all and the cherry blossoms, were , of course, all the ramen resturaunts. Hai, if there was one thing that could come close to her obsession of anime, manga, and video games, it was her obsession of ramen.

" Sugoi..." she breathed getting a dazed and dreamy look across her face.

" Oh please. It can't be all that great can it. They don't even have a tournament being held." her brother Goten sighed in disapointment.

" Hai, you do have a point Oni-chan." she said looking down, clearly disapointed as well.

Goten was actually her twin brother but because of an hour and one minute difference he kept boasting how he was the older one and Hokuto was the baby of the family. Goten was born at 11:59. Just before midnight. Hokuto was born at 1:00 am but because of that small differnce that counted her as being born the next day which is why Goten liked to tease about how he was a 'full' day older than her. This would then proceed to them arguing about who was more mature and such - one of their favorite past times together though it annoyed the hell out of every one except for Trunks who would only sit and laugh and bet on who at the time would win the argument. ' Yes those are the good times.' thought Hokuto, smiling slightly. The happy moment was ruined as a resounding crash sounded behind her making her jump. She whipped around and saw a guy face first in the trash cans by a sushi bar and Goten standing over him.

" Goten! What the hell did you do that for!" Hokuto exclaimed, completely clueless as to what the guy tried to do.

" He had it coming thats all." Goten sighed. " Oi, how 'bout I buy you some ramen?"

Hokuto instantly turned back to happy mode.

" Hai! Thats a great idea! Arigatou oni-chan!" she beamed while glomping him, almost knocking them both over.

Goten recieved jealous glares from the surrounding guys in the area until they realized that he was her brother then all at once they turned around while Hokuto was completely oblivious to it all. It wasn't that she was ditsy or anything she just never payed attention to what was going on around her except when sparing. ' I don't know if it's a good or bad thing that she didn't even notice that guy try to grope her... Besides what do the guys around here see in her anyway?' Goten thought confused while glancing at his sister a little worried.

Hokuto, for some strange reason, had pale silver-white hair that was strange coming from a family with a history of black hair. it was cut short, slightly layered and angled down ( sorta like Faye's hair cut, from Cowboy Bebop.), framing her face perfectly. Her eyes changed colors depending on her mood but most of the time they were either blue or green, contrasting greatly with her hair. She was a bit tall for the average female with long silk legs and a chest that was not big but it wasn't small either. To Goten's dismay, she was the epitome of beauty to most of the guys at school and he had sworn to his mother that he would protect her and not let her get with any of the wrong men. It wasn't just that though, as her older brother he felt obligated to protect her in the first place. It seemed to just come naturally. He also reminded himself he was lucky to even have his sister standing there in front of him, happy and alive... He would try to make sure that it stayed that way too. He felt a grin tug at his face as Hokuto grabed his hand and dragged to the nearest ramen resturaunt. Him, Gohan, and their mother hoped that it would be this way forever, however, they each knew thats not how life works.

flashback

Ten years ago one one night, chibi Goten woke up in a cold sweat, barely keeping the scream from escaping his lips. He had the worst dream imaganable. With tears in his eyes he quickly looked over at his twin sister and sure enough she was right next to him in bed, sleeping soundly and alright. She would always get scared during the night and always ended up sleeping with one of her older brothers instead of in her own bed. He got up and went over to the window and looked to the stars and silently prayed 'Please don't let what happened yesterday to Hokuto happen again...' Recieving no answer from the heavenly lights above he sighed looked back at his sister again. The moonlight caught the look of concern on his face perfectly, casting deep shadows on his face. Finally deciding to consult his older brother with his fears he slowly got up and headed down the dark hall towards Gohan's room. It was especially hard for him to keep quiet after the fifth time of walking headlong into a wall. When he reached Gohan's room he heaved a small sigh of relief. Gohan was sitting on the edge of his bed staring out at the stars just as Goten had been not to long ago.

" Oni-chan." Goten said while running up to his brother and giving him a tight hug. Gohan gasped in surprised, being suddenly snapped out of his trance.

" Whats wrong little guy?" he asked even though he knew exactly what was wrong, while ruffling his younger brothers hair.

" I'm scared Gohan." Goten looked up at him with tears flowing down his face as he choked a little.

Gohan sighed. He knew exactly what was coming and he wasn't sure if Goten was ready to know just yet.

" What happened to Hokuto yesterday! What's wrong with her! Is she gonna be ok!" Goten burst out unable to hold it in any longer while Gohan frantically shushed him. The tears were like small rivers now streaming down Goten's face with nothing to stop the flow of hurt.

" Well Goten I... You see... Hokuto isn't exactly healthy right now. Infact she hasn't been since the day she was born."

" She was born sick?" Goten asked wide eyed.

" Yeah sick... if thats what you wanna call it." Gohan couldn't stand it. He could feel the tears stinging his eyes wanting to be let out, but he had to be strong for Goten right now. The memory of his little sister running towards him happy then out of now stopping and coughing up blood and crashing to the ground without warning filled his mind and it hurt so much to see her being rushed to the emergency room. It had pained him even more watching her in the hospital bed on the oxygen tank with all the tubes stuck to her, with the moniter registering her pulse to make sure her heart wouldn't stop. She had looked like a frightened caged animal about to die, weak, and fragile. It was like the happy little sister he new had completely vanished. He never wanted to see her like that again.

" But..." Goten started, his lower lip trembling. " Sick people don't just suddenly colapse like that do they?"

" Goten... Hokuto is sick... It's just that she's sick in the heart."

" The heart?"

" Yes, the heart Goten. Hokuto's heart I guess you could say is very weak and it doesn't work properly which is why that happened yesterday. She got pushed too hard..."

Goten thought to himself about it. It all made sense. ' Thats why mom told us to go easy on her all the time and not to let her get worked up so that wouldn't happen."

" It's all my fault!" he wailed " If I didn't let h-her p-push herself that wouldn't have happened!"

" Shh... No Goten, its not your fault at all. Mother and I thought she had gotten better so we let her... We thought she would've been ok but we were wrong." Gohan looked to Goten seriously, letting a single tear fall. He remembered just how badly his mom wanted a daughter and his father, and now they finally did have a daughter even if their dad wasn't there to see her and probably didn't know of her existence, he would not let his parents, Goten, or Hokuto down. He would protect her with his life.

" Goten, I need you to promise me something... You love Hokuto right?"

" Of course I do Oni-chan!"

" Ok. I need you to promise me that you will protect her, and make sure she lives happily. I know right now you may not understand fully but, we are lucky that our little sister is alive today at all. Promise me Goten, that you'll protect her and make sure she's happy."

Goten sniffed and whiped away his tears.

" Alright I promise Gohan!"

Gohan couldn't help but to smile. Goten looked so much like his father with that determined expression upon his face and it brought back some happy memories.

" Ok, good Goten. I want you to know that I'm protecting her too so if you need help doing that you can come to me."

" Right!"

Gohan didn't want to mention to him that Hokuto had actually almost died at birth so it trully was a miracle she was even alive. He remembered after the doctors had got her lifelines stable they had said they didn't expect her to live past highschool. She might not even live past 16. Well if that were the case he sure as hell would make sure she got the chance to live her life to the fullest as possible.

end flashback

Of course now Goten knew about all that too and he was growing increasingly worried with each day because Hokuto was already 16 and according to what the doctors said then she could die any day now. He stared at her while she wolfed down her ramen till she looked up at him and smiled. He suddenly realized he was staring at her and quickly looked away.

" What?" Hokuto asked with a laugh. " Do I have something on my face?"

He looked back at her and smiled. She was pointing to her face with the biggest grin on it and that sight made him happy.

" No you don't have anything on your face. Sorry, guess I must've zoned out there for a minute." He said with a sheepish look while scratching the back of his head.

" Hey I'm the only one who zones out or that is aloud to for that matter. As punishment for staring I get some of your ramen!"

In the blink of an eye she had snatched his ramen bowl and was eating it with gusto. Goten tried to snatch it back but it quickly went out of reach while Hokuto had to stop eating because she was starting to laugh at the same time. It was at that moment that he siezed it and notice that a bunch of people were looking at them as if they were crazy. Because of all the weird looks they were getting Hokuto started to laugh even harder. ' Well atleast so far i'm accomplishing what i promised.' Goten thought pleased. She finally stopped laughing and pointed to his head.

" You look weird with all those cherry blossoms on your head."

" Wha? Ah!" He started to brush of the blossoms like mad while shaking his.

" Did you put those there Hokuto?" he asked sternly.

" No I didn't it was the trees."

As soon as she said that a flurry of cherry blossoms came from the tree behind her, surrounding her in dapples of pink shining in the sunlight with her hair swaying in the breeze. It was almost a heavenly sight. At this point Goten decided, he was not gonna let her die no matter what happened, he just couldn't. He grabbed her hand and she looked at him in surprise.

" What's wrong Goten?" she asked confused.

" Nothing. I just want you to know that I will always be there for you, and I'll help you with anything if you need it.

She smilled at him and nodded.

" Yeah I know. And I'll be there for you too k?"

Goten almost stumbled as he was getting up from his stool. He looked down at her and suddenly felt as if a weight had fallen on his chest but with her smiling like that he decided it would be better not to let that emotion show.

" Yeah thanks. Hey let's go meet Trunks. I think we kept him waiting long enough."

" Oh yeah!" Hokuto gasped. " Shute! I completely forgot!"

She then gave Goten a mishevious grin causing him to become nervous. She always made him nervous when she did that because that usually meant trouble for him.

" Beat you there!" and she was gone, racing ahead of him.

" Huh?" Goten breathe with a dumbfounded look on his face and then he realized. " Hey wait!" he said while chasing after her.

He could just tell that something good was gonna happen today, he could feel in the air, he just didn't know what but that thought was very comforting to him.

Atleast she'll live another day.


End file.
